Personal Freedom for Chinese Young Adults

Freedom is a matter of perspective, and the young adults of China have an interesting perspective. They have been exposed to a communist government for some time, and in their view, life is good. If life is going well, there’s simply no need to become involved with politics. While their parents grew up witnessing radical events such as the Cultural Revolution and the student protests at Tiananmen Square (with its subsequent suppression), their children were raised to associate politics with the horrific repercussions of the Cultural Revolution and Mao’s “Great Leap”. Since the 1979 Chinese one-child policy was introduced, the upcoming generation is the first generation in history to be largely comprised of only children. Only children are characteristically spoiled, and sinologists are observing that the Chinese youth really do have a solipsistic outlook. Their world is filled with iPods, Facebook, and Blogging. They care about their personal freedom, and under a communist government, they have that freedom. As long as China is amidst an economic boom, the youth couldn’t care less about politics.

Simon Elegant wrote an article for TIME magazine in which he interviewed a young woman by the name of Vicky Yang. In regards to politics, she voiced that “When it comes to democracy and all that, well, that doesn’t play a role in my life.” Our Chinese guests said they saw little difference between a capitalist and communist government. Although my peers and I see obvious differences in censorship and rights, maybe our guests don’t view freedom in the same way. If so, in their eyes, they are free. If someone doesn’t feel oppressed, they don’t feel denied freedom. They may not have the freedom to publicly criticize their government, but in their perspective, they are free.


Additional Reading:
China's Me Generation
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1647228-1,00.html